Dave Hill wrote in news:92809ae0-a23c-41fb-
:


And one that the birds will leave alone.

And one that bees don't like! (I forgot to mention that. It's going to be
my shade tree for sitting outside under, and I don't want to be pestered
with bees (much as I know their importance to the future of the planet)!

An alternative to a good fruit-producing strain, a good blossom-producing
strain woyuld be a good alternative, although, I suppose more blossom =
more bees buzzing around, yes?

Perhaps I should be looking at a different type of 15ft high semi-weeping
tree altogether. I've been looking at dogwoods, and salix, and the
aforementions bottlebrush. I also have a tamarisk sapling that is already
3ft tall. I wonder if that will end up being the winning candidate! I'm
right on the South Coast, but my soil is far from "well-drained"; it is
seriously clayey.

Al

On 25/03/2012 14:55, AL_n wrote:
Dave wrote in news:92809ae0-a23c-41fb-
:


And one that the birds will leave alone.

And one that bees don't like! (I forgot to mention that. It's going to be
my shade tree for sitting outside under, and I don't want to be pestered
with bees (much as I know their importance to the future of the planet)!

An alternative to a good fruit-producing strain, a good blossom-producing
strain woyuld be a good alternative, although, I suppose more blossom =
more bees buzzing around, yes?

Perhaps I should be looking at a different type of 15ft high semi-weeping
tree altogether. I've been looking at dogwoods, and salix, and the
aforementions bottlebrush. I also have a tamarisk sapling that is already
3ft tall. I wonder if that will end up being the winning candidate! I'm
right on the South Coast, but my soil is far from "well-drained"; it is
seriously clayey.

Al



If you want a cherry tree that won't attract bees, you're better off
looking at a double-flowering form. However, with this type, you will
not get fruit. In double-flowerers the reproductive organs (stamen,
etc) are mostly developed into the extra petals you see, therefore bees
aren't interested and there is no fertilisation, so the plant cannot
reproduce. This also means that the flowering season is extended
because the flowers do 'go over' as fertilised flowers do prior to
forming fruit.

--
Spider
from high ground in SE London
gardening on clay

Spider wrote in
:

Perhaps I should be looking at a different type of 15ft high
semi-weeping tree altogether. I've been looking at dogwoods, and
salix, and the aforementions bottlebrush. I also have a tamarisk
sapling that is already 3ft tall. I wonder if that will end up being
the winning candidate! I'm right on the South Coast, but my soil is
far from "well-drained"; it is seriously clayey.

Al



If you want a cherry tree that won't attract bees, you're better off
looking at a double-flowering form. However, with this type, you will
not get fruit. In double-flowerers the reproductive organs (stamen,
etc) are mostly developed into the extra petals you see, therefore
bees aren't interested and there is no fertilisation, so the plant
cannot reproduce. This also means that the flowering season is
extended because the flowers do 'go over' as fertilised flowers do
prior to forming fruit.


Many thanks for this info, which I wasn't aware of. That's helpful, because
a prolific-flowering cherry doeas appeal to me - especially if bees aren;t
interested in it. The presence of the extra blossom more or less mitigates
the lack of fruit, for my purposes.

Can anyone suggest a particular variety to look for, that is semi-weeping,
or wide-spreading, and grows to a maximum of about 16 ft? (preferaby not a
grafted type, because I think those look unnatural, and I gather are also
more prone to disease).

Al

Just another thought to chuck in the pot: how about a weeping pear?

The fruits are ornamental only (and in fact I didn't spot any on our tree last year!) The flowers are out now, but the bees in our garden seem much more interested in the pulmonaria under it (and anyway the blossom doesn't last very long).

It is possibly more dense than you want, and I think it would naturally have a lower canopy than you want (I've seen pictures with branches nearly down to the ground). So you'd need to remove lower branches to sit under it: but the one in my garden is very small/neat and you can stand up under it (just), so worth thinking about. I think the leaves are beautiful, and all the photos I've seen suggest they naturally make a really nice neat shaped tree and don't seem to get too big. The RHS site suggests they are not too fussy about setting:

RHS Plant Selector Pyrus salicifolia 'Pendula' AGM / RHS Gardening

Let us know what you go with!

P.S. I've seen the RHS website reckons they get to 8-12 metres high in 20-50 years. My best guess is ours is 20 years old (that seems to be when everything in the garden was put in), and it's only about 10 ft high and showing no obvious signs of upward growth (tends to grow out more than up for us): so either they vary or you can limit its growth.

Gardeners World says its maximum height/width is 3m. Mail order tree companies seem to say between 3-6m tall, but that it can easily be restricted to lower heights by pruning.

On 27/03/2012 10:46, AL_n wrote:
wrote in
:

Perhaps I should be looking at a different type of 15ft high
semi-weeping tree altogether. I've been looking at dogwoods, and
salix, and the aforementions bottlebrush. I also have a tamarisk
sapling that is already 3ft tall. I wonder if that will end up being
the winning candidate! I'm right on the South Coast, but my soil is
far from "well-drained"; it is seriously clayey.

Al



If you want a cherry tree that won't attract bees, you're better off
looking at a double-flowering form. However, with this type, you will
not get fruit. In double-flowerers the reproductive organs (stamen,
etc) are mostly developed into the extra petals you see, therefore
bees aren't interested and there is no fertilisation, so the plant
cannot reproduce. This also means that the flowering season is
extended because the flowers do 'go over' as fertilised flowers do
prior to forming fruit.


Many thanks for this info, which I wasn't aware of. That's helpful, because
a prolific-flowering cherry doeas appeal to me - especially if bees aren;t
interested in it. The presence of the extra blossom more or less mitigates
the lack of fruit, for my purposes.

Can anyone suggest a particular variety to look for, that is semi-weeping,
or wide-spreading, and grows to a maximum of about 16 ft? (preferaby not a
grafted type, because I think those look unnatural, and I gather are also
more prone to disease).

Al




A white double-flowered cherry might be Prunus 'Shirotae'.
A pink double-flowered cherry might be Prunus 'Pink Perfection'.
There are many others.

Most ornamental cherries that you see are likely to be taller than you
require and probably grafted. Grafted is not actually a dirty word,
although bad grafts have contributed to this impression. In fact, for
someone such as yourself who requires a smaller tree, grafting (on a
dwarfing rootstock) is exactly what you need.

Try and buy from a nursery where you can see the tree and its graft,
rather than on-line where you can't. Have a good look at the graft.
Ask for advice if you're not sure it's firm enough. Many nurserymen
will tell you that you don't need to stake a grafted tree but, if it
saves you some anxiety, stake it until it's obvious that the graft is
thoroughly established. There may very well follow a discussion on how
a tree needs to flex in the wind (ie no stake) in order to strengthen
itself. This is a perfectly valid argument, with which I agree
whole-heartedly. Therefore, free your tree from its stake as soon as
reasoanbly possible. I have often left the stake in place for a year or
two after untying it, so that I can secure the tree again over winter
when it might be seriously whipped by strong winds.

The other thing you need to know about all the Prunus family, is that
they must be pruned in warm dry weather (say, April to August). Cuts or
damage made in cold wet weather may invite the fungal disease Silver Leaf.

--
Spider
from high ground in SE London
gardening on clay